Wolf Pack complete season sweep of Knights

West Port's pressure was way too much for visiting Vanguard to handle in Saturday's showdown between Marion County's top two public school girls basketball teams.

By Andy MarksStaff writer

West Port's pressure was way too much for visiting Vanguard to handle in Saturday's showdown between Marion County's top two public school girls basketball teams.The Wolf Pack trapped relentlessly from a half-court defensive set, forced a staggering 46 turnovers and cruised to a 57-31 win that completed a season sweep of the Knights. “The first time we played them we forced a lot of turnovers,” West Port coach Corey Rollerson said. “We just wanted to keep the pressure on the ball, keep the ball out of the ball-handler's hands and then try to make them turn it over.”That's exactly what happened — over and over again. Vanguard suffered double-digit turnovers in each of the first three quarters and, as a result, managed just 28 total field-goal attempts, less than half of West Port's total (58).West Port's leading scorer, Navondra Dubois, led the way with 15 points, but after that the Wolf Pack got contributions from less-expected places. Freshman Leah Ulrich totaled 14 points, while Aaliyah High finished with 11 — nine of them during a decisive stretch in the second quarter that put the game away.Rollerson said those offensive contributions were key, and they were also the result of a back-to-basics trend in practice lately after some recent struggles shooting the ball in district play. “The last two weeks in practice we've worked mostly on fundamentals and mechanics (like) shooting and making layups,” Rollerson said. “We put our offensive set to the side and just worked on those fundamentals and mechanics to try and get better. We want to be able to compete in our district tournament. We know where our weakness was and we're getting better at it right now.”The Wolf Pack (13-9 overall) are just 2-6 in District 8A-1 play and will need to turn those results around if they're going to make their 12th straight postseason appearance or win their 10th straight district title. “The momentum is changing,” Rollerson said. “They've been working hard. It's starting to sink in that they're trying to keep up with tradition as far as the district tournament and getting into the playoffs.”West Port returns to action Tuesday at North Marion, while Vanguard visits Lecanto on Wednesday.Markeisha Watkins paced Vanguard with nine points while grabbing seven boards. The Knights' leading scorer, Canisha LeCorn, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds but was held to eight points. Vanguard (14-8) has already clinched the No. 2 seed for the upcoming District 6A-6 tourney.